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The AFC Grassroots Panel, comprising recognised specialists in the field, assembled for the fifth time at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur to discuss, fine-tune and determine the AFC Grassroots Charter approvals.
AFC Technical Director Andy Roxburgh began the meeting by re-emphasising the definition of grassroots football, which includes children, youth, amateur and veteran football, highlighting the importance of the panel in promoting the game at grassroots level.
The Grassroots Charter is a development tool for Member Associations (MAs) to raise the quality of their grassroots programmes. It identifies 20 performance categories such as grassroots competitions, fairplay, partnerships and personal development.
This AFC grassroots endorsement programme is offered at three levels – bronze, silver and gold. At the entry level (bronze), the emphasis is on mass participation. The next level (silver) focuses on increased levels of quality, and at the highest level (gold), the endorsed members will set the benchmark for grassroots development.
Since the previous panel meeting in September last year, the AFC Technical Committee has delegated the assessment and decision making process to the Grassroots Panel.
The panel has already evaluated five MA grassroots programmes and AFC endorsements will follow soon.
A second round involving 10 MA applications has been received, and these will be assessed by the panel members in the coming months.
The panel also discussed new AFC Special Grassroots Awards; these are The Best Grassroots Leader, The Best Grassroots Project and The Best Grassroots Club. The winners will be invited to the AFC’s 2nd Grassroots Conference, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur in November 2018.
